Three theories are considered to derive principles of teaching and learning. They are Stimulus Response Theory (SR theory), Cognitive theory and motivation and personality theory

The pioneers of stimulus-response theory are Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner. An important concept in modern psychology, stimulus-response theory is any form of conditioning in which a specific stimulus comes to be paired with a particular response in the mind of the subject. The most common applications of stimulus-response theory are in classical and operant conditioning.

The Cognitive Learning Theory explains why the brain is the most incredible network of information processing and interpretation in the body as we learn things. This theory can be divided into two specific theories: the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), and the Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT). When we say the word “learning”, we usually mean “to think using the brain”. This basic concept of learning is the main viewpoint in the Cognitive Learning Theory (CLT). The theory has been used to explain mental processes as they are influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, which eventually bring about learning in an individual.

The motivation and personality theories culminate three approaches- Psychoanalytical, behavioristic and humanistic.

Psychoanalytic or “first force.” – It is believed that the answers to the important questions lie somewhere behind the surface, hidden, in the unconscious.

Behavioristic or “second force.” In this perspective, the answers are felt to lie in careful observation of behavior and environment and their relations.

Humanistic or “third force.” Often based on a reaction to psychoanalytic and behavioristic theories, the common belief is that the answers are to be found in consciousness or experience.

The following are the principles drawn from each of the theory

A. Principles emphasized in S-R theory

1. The learner should be active, rather than a passive listener or viewer.
2.  Frequency of repetition is still important in acquiring skill, and for retention through over learning.
3. Reinforcement is important; that is, in repetition desirable or correct responses should be rewarded.
4. Generalization and discrimination suggest the importance of practice in varied contexts, so that learning will become (or remain) appropriate to wider (or more restricted) range stimuli.
5. Novelty G behavior can be enhanced through imitation of models, through cueing, through shaping, and is not inconsistent with a liberalized S-R approach.
6. Drive is important in learning, but all personal-social motives do not conform to the drive-reduction principles based on food-deprivation experiments.
7. Conflicts and frustrations arise inevitably in the process of learning difficult discriminations and in social situations in which irrelevant motives may be aroused. Hence we must recognize and provide for their resolution or accommodation.

B. Principles emphasized in cognitive theory

1. The perceptual features of the problem given the learner are important conditions of learning-figure-ground relations, directional signs, sequence, organic interrelatedness. Hence a learning problem should be so structured and presented that the essential features are open to the inspection of the learner.
2. The organization of knowledge should be an essential concern of the teacher or educational planner so that the direction from simple to complex is not from arbitrary, meaningless parts to meaningful wholes, but instead from simplified wholes to more complex wholes.
3. Learning is culturally relative, and both the wider culture and the subculture to which the learner belongs may affect his learning.
4. Cognitive feedback confirms correct knowledge and corrects faulty learning. The learner tries something provisionally and then accepts or rejects what he does on the basis of its consequences. This is, of course, the cognitive equivalent of reinforcement in S-R theory, but cognitive theory tends to place more emphasis upon a king of hypothesis-testing through feedback.
5. Goal-setting by the learner is important as motivation for learning and his successes and failures determine how he sets future goals.
6. Divergent thinking, which leads to inventive problem solving or the creating of novel and valued products, is to be nurtured along with convergent thinking, which leads to logically correct answers.

C. Principles from motivation and personality theory

1. The learner’s abilities are important, and provisions have to be made for slower and more rapid learners, as well as for those with specialized abilities.
2. Postnatal development may be as important as hereditary and congenital determiners of ability and interest. Hence the learner must be understood in terms of the influences that have shaped his development.
3. Learning is culturally relative, and both the wider culture and the subculture to which the learner belongs may affect his learning.
4. Anxiety level of the individual learner may determine the beneficial or detrimental effects of certain kinds of encouragements to learn.
5. The same objective situation may tap appropriate motives for one learner and not for another, as for example, in the contrast between those motivated by affiliation and those motivated by achievement.
6. The organization of motives and values within the individual is relevant. Some long-range goals affect short-range activities. Thus college students of equal ability may do better in courses perceived as relevant to their majors than in those perceived as irrelevant.
7. The group atmosphere of learning (competition vs cooperation, authoritarianism vs democracy, individual isolation vs group identification) will affect satisfaction in learning as well as the products of learning.

Robert Gane in The Conditions of Learning (1965) agrees with these learning theorists that teaching means the arranging of conditions that are external to the learner [p. 26], but he disagrees that learning is a phenomenon which can be explained by simple theories. He believes that there are eight distinct types of learning, each with its own set of required conditions, as follows:

Type 1: Signal learning. The individual learns to make a general, diffuse response to a signal. This is the classical conditioned response of Pavlov.

Type 2: Stimulus-Response Learning. The learner acquires a precise response to a discriminated stimulus. What is learned is a connection (Thorndke) or a discriminated operant (Skinner), sometimes called an instrumental response (Kimble).

Type 3: Chaining. What is acquired is a chain of two or more stimulus-response connections. The conditions for such learning have been described by Skinner and others.

Type 4: Verbal Association, Verbal association is the learning of chains that are verbal. Basically, the conditions resemble those for other (motor) chains. However, the presence of language in the human being makes this a special type because internal links may be selected from the individual’s previously learned repertoire of language.

Type 5: Multiple Discrimination. The individual learns to make ‘n’ different identifying responses to as many different stimuli, which may resemble each other in physical appearance to a greater or lesser degree.

Type 6: Concept Learning. The learner acquires a capability of making a common response to a class of stimuli that may differ from each other widely in physical appearance. He is able to make a response that identifies an entire class of objects or events.

Type 7: Principle Learning. In simplest terms, a principle is a chain of two or more concepts. It functions to control behavior in the manner suggested by a verbalized rule of the form “If A, then B,” which, of course, may also be learned as type 4.

Type 8: Problem Solving. Problem solving is a kind of learning that requires the internal events usually called thinking. Two or more previously acquired principles are somehow combined to produce a new capability that can be shown to depend on a “higher-order” principle.
Gagne specifies eight component functions of the instructional situation, representing the ways in which the learner’s environment acts on him, that must be managed by the teacher:

1. Presenting the stimulus.

Every type of learning requires a stimulus, and usually these stimuli must be located within the learning environment. Outside the learner. If a chain is being learned, an external cue must be provided for each link, even though these may become unnecessary later. If multiple discrimination is to be accomplished, the stimuli to be discriminated must be displayed so that correct connections can become differentiated from incorrect ones. If concepts are being learned, a suitable variety of objects or events representing a class must be displayed. If principles are being acquired, the stimulus objects to which they are expected to apply must somehow be represented to the student. And if problem solving is undertaken, the “problem situation” must similarly be represented in many different ways by objects already in the learner’s environment, or by means of pictures, printed books, or oral communication.

2. Directing attention and other learner activities.

Environmental components also act on the learner by directing his attention to certain stimuli or aspects of stimulus objects and events. In very young children, vivid or suddenly changing stimulation may be used for this purpose. Very soon these can be supplanted by oral commands, and later still by printed directions such as, “ Notice the number of electrons in the outer ring,” or “Look at the graph in Figure 23”. Activities other than attention may also be directed by such instructions, as implied by the statements, “Remember how a line is defined,” or “Complete the following sentence”. These activities are not themselves learning; they are simply actions that must be taken by the learner in order to create the proper conditions for learning. Verbal directions that have these purposes can be presented either orally or in printed form.

3. Providing a model for terminal performance.

The importance of the function of informing the learner about the general nature of the performance to be acquired has been emphasized previously on several occasions. There is no single way of doing this, and many different components of the instructional situation may be employed. Most commonly, the “model” of performance to be expected following learning is conveyed by oral or printed communication.

4. Furnishing external prompts.

In learning chains as well as multiple discriminations, cues may be provided in the instructional situation to establish a proper sequence of connections or to increase the distinctiveness of stimuli. As learning proceeds, these extra cues may be made to “vanish” when they are no longer needed. Stimuli that function as extra cues may take a variety of forms. For example, they may be pictorial, as when a sequence is depicted in a diagram reading from left to right. Or they may be auditory, as in emphasizing the differences in sound of such French words as rue and rouge. Verbal stimuli are often employed for both these purposes, as well as for the purpose of furnishing distinctive “coding links” in verbal chains. In Gilbert’s (1962) example of learning color coding for resistors, the word “penny” is provided as a link between brown and one, the word “nothingness” as a link between black and zero.

5. Guiding the direction of thinking.

When principles are being learned, and particularly when learning takes the form of problem solving, the direction of recalled internal connections (thoughts) may be guided by instructions from the learner’s environment. As described previously, such guidance is presumed to have the effect of increasing the efficiency of learning by reducing the occurrence of irrelevant “hypotheses”. Generally, instructions having this function of “hinting” and “suggesting” take the form of oral or printed prose statements.

6. Inducing transfer of knowledge.

Providing for the transfer of learned concepts and principles to novel situations may be accomplished in a number of ways. The conduct of discussion is one of the most convenient. Obviously, this is a special kind of interaction between the learner and his environment, and it is not possible to specify exactly what form will be taken at any given moment by stimulation from the environment. The process is usually initiated, however, by verbally stated questions of the “problem-solving” variety. An important alternative method is to place the individual within a problem situation more or less directly, without the use of words to describe it. A science demonstration may be used to serve this function. Also, motion pictures can be used with considerable effectiveness to initiate problem-solving discussion by “getting the students into the situation” in a highly realistic manner.

7. Assessing learning attainments.

The environment of the learner also acts on him to assess the extent to which he has attained a specific learning objective or sub objective. It does this by deliberately placing him in representative problem situations that concretely reflect the capability he is expected to have learned. Most frequently, this is done by asking him questions. Although it is conceivable for the learner to formulate for himself the questions to be asked, this difficult to do even for the experienced adult learner. Preferably, the questions must come from an independent source, so that they will be uninfluenced by the learner’s wishes, but will accurately represent the objective.

8. Providing feedback.

Closely related to assessment of learning out-comes is the provision for feedback concerning the correctness of the learner’s responses. The questions that are asked the learner, followed by his answers, must in turn be followed b information that tells him whether he is right or wrong. Sometimes, the provision for this feedback function f the learner’s environment is very simple to arrange: a foreign word pronounced by the student may sound like ne he hears on a tape; the color of a chemical solution may indicate the presence of an element he is searching for. At other times it may be considerably more complex, as when the adequacy of a constructed prose paragraph describing an observed event is assessed, and the results fed back to the student.

The eight phases of learning (based on Gagne, 1985)
In order for effective learning to take place, the learner must go through all eight of these phases.

1. Attention. Learning is not likely to occur in the absence of attention. Attention is essential for getting information into the working memory and keeping it active there. Therefore, the first phase in the learning process is that the learner must focus attention on the learning activity. Although this is listed as the “first phase,” attention must be maintained throughout the other phases as well.

2. Expectancy. During this phase, the learner develops an expectancy that something desirable will happen as a result of the proposed learning process. The result is a motivation to engage in the subsequent phases of the learning process.

3. Retrieval of Relevant Information to Working Memory. The learner retrieves from long-term memory the structures that will be helpful in learning new information or solving problems that have been encountered.

4. Selective Perception. During this phase the learner focuses attention on the essential features of the instructional presentation. It is not always possible for teachers to ascertain by simple inspections where students are focusing attention; and learners often fail to learn because they have focused on the wrong information. Failures at this selective perception can occur either because the presentation inadequately draws attention, because the learner fails to direct attention, or because of a combination of both of these reasons. It is best to test the assumption and to make corrections when necessary.

5. Encoding: Entry of Information into Long-Term Storage. During this phase the learner encodes the information on which he or she has clearly focused attention – that is, transfers the information into long-term memory by relating it to information that is already stored there.

6. Responding. During this phase the learner retrieves and actively uses the information that has been stored in long-term memory. The learner demonstrates through an active performance that the learning has taken place.

7. Feedback. During this phase the learner determines the degree to which the performance during the previous phase was satisfactory. When the feedback indicates acceptable performance, this usually serves as reinforcement to the learner. When this feedback shows that the learner’s performance was imperfect, the learner loops back to an earlier phase of learning. For example, the learner may go back and seek appropriate prerequisite knowledge or focus attention more effectively during selective perception and then continue again with the subsequent steps. The learner does not go beyond this step until the information has been learned.

8. Cueing Retrieval. During this phase the learner practices recalling or applying the information after it has been initially learned in order to enhance retention of the information or to transfer the learning beyond its original context to a new application.

Types of learning

• Skill learning –learn to do many things by muscular coordination or verbal learning.
• Perceptual learning –through the 5 sense organs.
• Conceptual learning –perceptual learning leads to conceptual learning on the basis of concrete and particular facts.
• Associative learning –new facts gets associated with the old acquired facts giving rise to new knowledge.
• Attitudinal learning – to act in a certain way under certain conditions. Helps to form attitude.

Bloom’s 6 levels of learning

Within the Cognitive Domain, Bloom defines 6 levels of intellectual behavior that are important for learning.
1. Knowledge:

• Recall data or information
• Verbs: describe, identify, recall, arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, reproduce state.

2. Comprehension:

• Understand the meaning of a problem, be able to translate into own words.
• Verbs: comprehend, give example, classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate,

3. Application:

• Use a concept in a new situation
• Verbs: apply, change, construct, compute, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.

4. Analysis:

• Can split concepts into parts and understands the structure
• Verbs: analyze, break down, relate, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, make inferences, find evidence, test.

5. Synthesis:

• Produce something from different elements (e.g a report).
• Verbs: summarize, arrange, combine, categorize, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write.

6. Evaluation:

• Make judgments, justify a solution, etc.
• Verbs: appraise, interpret, argue, assess, attach, compare, defend, estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate, prove, deduct.
  

Phases of teaching as propped by Jackson

1. Planning Phase includes decision like:

• The needs of the learner
• The achievable goals & objectives to meet the needs
• Selection of the content to be taught
• Motivation to carry out the goal,
• Approach most fit to carry out the goals
• Evaluation process to measure learning outcome Considerations in planning
• Learner
• Availability of materials
• Time requirement of particular activity
• Strategy need to achieve the objective

2. Implementation phase

• Based on the objective, implementation means to put into action the different activities in order to achieve the objectives through the subject matter.
• Interaction of the teacher and learner is important in the accomplishment of the plan
• Use of different teaching style and strategy are included in this phase

3. Evaluation phase

• A match of the objective with the learning outcome will be made
• Answers the question if the plans and implementation have been successfully achieved Feedback

Levels of teaching

Level-1	Reception	Receiving information
Level-2	Application	Applying ideas
Level-3	Extension	Extending ideas
level-4	Generation	Generating solutions
Level-5	Challenge	The learner’s challenge

Some effective Teaching and learning methods

In the process of learning it is impossible to learn any concrete issue by using only one method. The teacher has to use different methods during the teaching process; also a combination of methods is frequently used. In the process of teaching methods often supplement one other. The most widely spread teaching and learning methods as well as their definitions are given below. A teacher should choose the proper method according to the concrete aim and problem.

1. Discussion/debates. This is the most widely spread method of interactive teaching. A discussion process greatly increases the quality of students’ involvement and their activity. A discussion may turn into an argument and this process is not merely confined to the questions posed by the teacher. It develops students’ skills of reasoning and substantiating their own ideas.

2. Cooperative teaching is a teaching strategy in the process of which each member of a group not only has to learn the subject himself, but also to help his fellow-student to learn it better. Each member of the group works at the problem until all of them master the issue.

3. Collaborative work; using this method implies dividing students into separate groups and giving each group its own task. The group members work at their issues individually and at the same time share their opinions with the rest of the group. According to the problem raised, it is possible to shift the functions among the group members in this process. This strategy ensures the students’ maximum involvement in the learning process.

4. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a method which uses a concrete problem as the initial stage both for acquiring new knowledge and integration process.

5. Heuristic method is based on the step-by-step solving of a given problem. It is realized by means of independent fixing of the facts in the teaching process and determining the ties among them.

6. Case study – the teacher discusses concrete cases together with the students and they study the issue thoroughly.

7. Brain storming – this method implies forming and presenting as many radically different ideas and opinions on a given topic as possible. This method sets conditions for developing a creative approach towards a problem. This method is effective in a large group of students and consists of the following stages:

• using a creative approach for defining a problem/issue;
• for a certain period of time listing (mainly on the blackboard) students’ ideas on the problem without any criticism;
• determining the evaluation criteria for stating the correspondence of the idea to the aim of the research;
• evaluating the chosen ideas according to the previously determined criteria;
• selecting the ideas that most of all correspond to the given issue by applying the method of exclusion;
• revealing the best idea for solving the given problem.

8. Role-playing games and simulations – games played according to a previously prepared scenario enable students to estimate the problem from different standpoints. They help students to form alternative points of view. Such games as well as discussions help students to develop skills of independently expressing their own ideas and participating in discussions.

9. Demonstration method implies presenting information with the help of visual aids. It is quite effective in reaching the required result. It is frequently advisable to present the material simultaneously through audio and visual means. The material can be presented both by a teacher and a student. This method helps us to make different steps of perceiving the teaching material more obvious, specify what steps the students are supposed to take independently; at the same time this strategy visually shows the essence of an issue/problem. Demonstration can be very simple.

10. Inductive method determines such a form of conveying any kind of knowledge when in the process of learning the train of thought is oriented from facts towards generalization, i.e. while presenting the material the process goes from concrete to general.

11. Deductive method determines such a form of conveying any kind of knowledge which presents a logical process of discovering new knowledge on the basis of general knowledge, i.e. the process goes from general to concrete.

12. Analytical method helps us to divide the whole teaching material into constituent parts. In this way the detailed interpretation of separate issues within the given complex problem is simplified.

13. Synthetic method implies forming one issue from several separate ones. This method helps students to develop the ability of seeing the problem as a whole.

14. Verbal or oral method comprises a lecture, narration, conversation, etc. During the process the teacher conveys, explains the material verbally, and students perceive and learn it by comprehending and memorizing.

15. Written method implies the following forms of activity: copying, taking notes, composing theses, writing essays, etc.

16. Laboratory method implies the following forms of activity: conducting experiments, showing video materials, etc.

17. Practical methods unite all the teaching forms that stimulate developing practical skills in students. In this case a student independently performs different kinds of activity on the basis of the knowledge acquired e.g. field study, teaching practice, field work, etc.

18. Explanatory method is based on discussing a given issue. In the process of explaining the material the teacher brings concrete examples the detailed analysis of which is made in the framework of the given topic.

19. Activity-oriented teaching implies teachers’ and students’ active involvement in the teaching process, when practical interpretation of the theoretical material takes place.

20. Designing and presenting a project. While designing a project a student applies the knowledge and skills he has acquired for solving a problem. Teaching by means of designing projects increases students’ motivation and responsibility. Working on a project involves the stages of planning, research, practical activity and presenting the results according to the chosen issue. The project is considered to be completed if its results are presented clearly, convincingly, and correctly. It can be carried out individually, in pairs or in groups; also, within the framework of one or several subjects (integration of subjects); on completion the project is presented to a large audience.

21. E-learning implies using the Internet and multi-media means in the process of teaching. It comprises all the components of the teaching process (aims, content, methods, means, etc.); the realization of these components takes place through specific means. There are three types of e-learning:

22. Full-time tuition; when the teaching process takes place during teachers’ and students’ contact hours, and conveying the teaching material occurs through an e-course;

23. Distant learning implies conducting the teaching process in the absence of a professor. The teaching course is conducted distantly; in the e-format.

References

Assignments:

1. Compare and contrast between three theories of teaching and learning.
2. Keeping in view the Taxonomy of Bloom’s educational objectives, analyse the possible cognitive level through above listed teaching and learning methods.